Category: Lifestyle

Sometimes I find myself needing to take stock of what's good in my life. It is way to easy to let negative thoughts rein, so in an effort to stay positive, and harness the power of gratitude here are 40 things I love and I am grateful for. Myself — I have recently learned that unless I am on the list of things I love then something is out of balance in my life. It is not selfish to love myself. Although I am still learning this one day at a time. The sky — it’s everywhere, it's so reliable, its always there to brighten my day or amaze me with its darkness. It's easy to harness the power of gratitude when you are grateful for such basic things that are…

If I knew how to read faster, I could get so much more done every day. A finger traces the lines across the page as the small child carefully pronounces each word out loud in front of the class. Learning to read has been an exciting adventure, and they are finally mastering it. The teacher comes by and firmly removes the finger from the page, forcing eyes to follow the lines without guidance. The message sent: this is how grownups read. [caption id="attachment_1146" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Photo by Ben White on Unsplash[/caption] But what if using that finger is useful to increase your reading speed? Does it sound far fetched? Humor me for a moment and test it. The test Set a timer for one minute and start reading your favorite…

First I will tell you what a life coach is not; it is not a therapist. Most do not have a degree in counseling or psychology. If they do, they have left the profession to be a life coach for a reason. Life coaches should have some kind of training. I am a Certified Life Coach. In addition, I am a practitioner of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, and the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). Life Coaches Help you Shift Your Perspective A life coach will challenge you to look at things from different perspectives. They will question your actions, and the goals you claim to have. They will help you narrow down what is helping you move forward in life and what is holding you back. The goal is to…

Instead of blaming your memory, try practicing active listening and be amazed at what you can recall! Have you ever been having a conversation with someone, but you can see they are obviously distracted? How many people practice active listening, using their full attention while making a conscious effort to understand the message you are trying to get across? (more…)

I realized in my last post, I wanted to encourage everyone to try more mindfulness activities, but I didn't give you a lot of guidance on what to do. So here we go, here are some mindfulness activities for adults that are easy to integrate into your day. (more…)

I never realized how much energy was burnt by the thoughts running through my head, until I found that mindfulness increases energy. Recently I disclosed to a friend how much I have battled with my body over the years. I have never had an eating disorder. But I have always felt as if I was taking up too much space. I wanted to make myself disappear, or shrink into a miniature version of myself. But I never knew how. I’ve hidden my insecurities and self-harm for years. But recently, I decided to live a more authentic life and talk about things that most of society keeps under wraps. Body Issues When my friend and I discussed this issue, she told me she didn’t know my generation still had this problem.…

There are a million resources out there that will tell you how to treat narcolepsy medically including various stimulants, or other medications like Baclofen, or Xyrem. There are also some new medications being tested that sound promising, but I don't have any personal experience with those. For some people, when they receive the right combination of medications, their narcolepsy is managed well and they go on with their life, which is amazing. But for many of us, the medications alone don’t give us the results we desire. Physically our bodies are all different and mentally we are all in different places as well. So, it makes sense we all need different things to treat narcolepsy symptoms. (more…)

Can Narcolepsy be cured? While narcolepsy can still not be cured, there are lots of things we can do to manage narcolepsy. There are so many different narcolepsy treatments available, we don't have to give up. Everyone has to find the narcolepsy treatment options that work for them! Some people choose to treat narcolepsy naturally. There are ways for us to mitigate our symptoms without taking narcolepsy medication. We want to beat the brain fog, fight fatigue, and take back control over how we feel. This list is about short-term goals! Try one or more of them NOW! (more…)

If keto bread were easier, maybe it would be easier to stay keto. Day 3 of Intermittent Fasting, and although I can't say I have any additional mental clarity, it does seem to make the mornings easier. I don't feel pressured to cook breakfast, and of course, there is no clean up then either. Cooking tired is always a drag anyway. Generally, I am unimaginative and eat fried eggs over and over again. [caption id="attachment_1160" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Photo by author[/caption] I have to say I was feeling pretty excited about my discovery yesterday! I have done some quick googling, but it doesn't seem like this is one of those commonly known keto things that I have just been missing out on. It is the easiest, quickest to make “keto bread” I…

Intermittent Fasting for Narcolepsy Have you ever tried intermittent fasting for narcolepsy? I would love to hear about your experience! I’ve seen the term a million times in the keto community, but I always tell myself I am doing well enough with what I have. There is no need to make it more complicated. I enjoy my early morning coffees and snacks throughout the day that fit my ketogenic diet. But lately I’ve been lacking mental clarity and I’m ready to try something new. I started looking into fasting, which seems very travel-friendly. I gave myself the weekend to wrap my head around it and decided I would dive in on Monday. Today is my first day. I have decided to start with the 16/8 method that I learned about…

When I say that I deal with pain every day, I think many people can relate. We all have little aches and pains that plague us throughout our lives; that knee injury from high school, back and shoulder pain from stress, or recurring headaches that can't be explained. I even include emotional pain in this definition. Physical chronic pain has become a widespread issue affecting more than 100 million Americans while remaining an invisible illness. It doesn't receive attention because there is no way to compare levels of pain or measure how much it improves or gets worse. We all can believe our pain is worse than others' but that doesn't help us feel better. (more…)

Using yoga for narcolepsy is more feasible for me than other exercise regiments. Some days I feel so low I just want to lay down on the floor. It’s not just to have a nap, although sometimes I need that too! I used to think this was just a sign I was depressed, but now I see it as a message from my body. (more…)

I have tried to start with the easy stuff. Not easy to do, but easy to swallow and say, okay this is simple enough I’ll at least try. And most of these are beneficial to anyone and everyone, regardless of if you have narcolepsy or another illness or if you are the healthiest person in the world! There are plenty more to talk about. But not everything I have done to radically change my life has been so simple. Sometimes to get radical results we have to make radical changes. The biggest one, I know many are resistant to or have some reason that it is not feasible for them, so I will not judge you if this is not for you. But even if my way isn’t the way…

Maybe at this point, you are thinking about trying the keto diet out for yourself. Have you read about what you can do before going keto? You may be feeling positive about your future and believe you are ready to take the plunge. If so, that’s great! Go for it! If you are a bit more hesitant, here is my advice on some smaller changes you can make before going keto, or even deciding if it is right for you. Tips to try before going keto Eliminate Sugar from your diet [caption id="attachment_990" align="alignright" width="300"] Keto fruit pizza![/caption] Start with sugar. First the big stuff, like sugary beverages and sugar-filled desserts. Pay special attention in the morning and monitor your energy levels. Later you can start reading labels and finding…